Did Avengers: Endgame Actually Introduce A Young Avenger To The MCU?

Though it turned out that Clint Barton’s “protege” in those Avengers: Endgame trailers was actually his daughter, Lila, and not Kate Bishop, there’s still room for Kate to make her debut–especially considering we’re going to be getting a Hawkeye-focused Disney+ series here at some point in the future. But for all Endgame lacked in teenaged archery heroes, it did pave the way for another new hero to take the spotlight in a giant way.

Yes, pun intended, because we’re talking about Cassie Lang, otherwise known over in Marvel Comics as Stature–Ant-Man’s daughter and a member of the Young Avengers.

Cassie is by no means a new character for the MCU. She made her debut in Ant-Man 1 as Scott Lang’s very young daughter–her age is never directly confirmed but Abby Ryder Fortson, who played her, was around six or seven during filming. Later, during Ant-Man & The Wasp, Fortston reprised her role at age ten. Though both movies showed her taking particular interest in her dad’s line of work, both as a superhero and as a thief, she was way too young to be seriously considered for any sort of codename or mantle.

However, after Endgame’s five year time jump, Cassie is now around fifteen or sixteen years old, right smack dab in the middle of the Young Avengers demographic and a suddenly limitless potential for the future of the MCU both in theaters and in streaming TV.

So, who is Stature?

Over in the comics, Cassie’s story is actually pretty close to what we see onscreen, except she also has a heart condition, which helped motivate Scott to steal Hank Pym’s tech in the first place so he could help wrangle a doctor to save her. The heart condition thing will come up again in a second, just bear with us.

Much like her live action counterpart, Cassie loved and admired her dad–both as a hero and as a thief, which inspired her to start experimenting with stolen Pym Particles on herself. This went on for a few years, though Cassie never quite got the hang of just how they worked and never saw the effects. A few major things happen–namely Scott dying during the Avengers Disassembled event–that inspired Cassie to try and sever ties with her mother and go on the run, first playing with the idea of joining the Runaways and then later seeing news about the formation of a new kid superhero team, the Young Avengers, which captures her interest.

The Young Avengers initially reject her application, but the stress of the moment triggers the Pym Particles within her (apparently) and allows her to manipulate her size just like her dear departed dad. Impressed, the Young Avengers leader and financer, Kate Bishop, welcomes her aboard. Rather than take on the name Ant-Girl or Giant-Girl, Cassie lands on Stature for her new alter ego.

For the most part–supervillains and life threatening peril notwithstanding–things go pretty well for Cassie for a while, until her mom discovers her secret (though it really couldn’t have been that hard–the list of suspects when it comes to size-manipulating teenagers in the Marvel Universe is pretty short). She doesn’t outright make Cassie retire, but she does fear that the heart condition Scott had effectively become Ant-Man to cure all those years ago would return thanks to all the continuous size-changing.

A few years down the line, she went on to join the Avengers: Initiative after the Young Avengers disbanded, but was tragically (temporarily) killed by Dr. Doom. Upon her eventually resurrection, her heart was stolen (like, literally, as in a forced heart transplant) which effectively depowered her.

Will all of that happen in the MCU? Probably not–but there’s definitely the groundwork laid. Cassie’s been interacting with Pym Particles for two entire movies and most of the moving parts of her backstory have been dealt with in one way or another. Also, now she’s got five whole years of off screen time where anything could have happened–for all we know Stature is already an active hero in the MCU and has been for the last year or so.

Either way, the five year time jump solved the issue of Cassie’s youth just in time for the next phase of movies to start rolling in. And while the original six Avengers may be done, at least for now, no one said their kids can’t get in on the action at some point. And Scott Lang isn’t counted among the dead or the retired–both he and Hope are still active in the MCU, meaning Cassie could start her superhero career with the Stature codename under their supervision. Now all we have to do is keep an eye out for teases of other Young Avengers staple characters–anyone have any theories about how Wiccan, Hulkling, and Patriot could make their debuts?